David Harvey - Teams and Technology

I’ve done a few product workshops in my time … One thing I see over and over again is a focus on features. “We could do this”, “Hey, how about that”, “I’ve just had a really cool idea…” And so on. There’s clearly a time for this. But if you’re not tuned into a user’s perspective, it can get frustrating very quickly. All these features! All these stories!

At some point in the proceedings I’ve taken to calling a halt, picking up a device or pointing at a screen, and saying, “OK, so I’ve just loaded the app for the first time. What next?”. And when we have an answer to that, then “OK, so now - what next?” Gets people focused on the actual use of what you’re trying to build, and in particular starts people realising that the last thing a new user wants is complexity. Get it out of the face of the user!

Seems obvious, but the number of times I’ve dealt with teams which one would have thought had significant product experience who’ve needed this gentle guidance would suggest that it ain’t necessarily so.

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